Fishing is a popular form of recreation, and source of fresh seafood for individuals with access to lakes, rivers, oceans and other water bodies where fish can be found. The most common form of recreational fishing, angling, uses a pole, reel, line, hooks and any of a wide range of baits, both living and man-made. Other devices, commonly referred to as tackle, may be used to compliment the presentation of the bail to fee targeted fish. Some examples of tackle include lures, weights, and floats. Additionally, anglers commonly carry first aid kits and tools, such as pliers, knives, aid screw drivers. These tools are used to change hooks or lures, cut leader wire or fishing line, remove hooks from fish, clean and fillet fish, and other aspects of fishing.
As is well knows, it may take an extended period of fishing for the angler to catch a fish. While waiting for a fish to bite, the angler may need to put down his fishing pole to use his hands to attend to something else or otherwise leave the fishing pole unattended. If the pole is simply led on a surface unattended, die pole may be pulled into the water or along the surface and be lost or damaged when a fish takes the bait. In addition, if the angler cannot see whether the fishing line is pulled taught, he may not notice that a bah has taken the bait. This is critical, since the chances die fish will take the bait without, being caught increases if an angler does not set the hook in the fish's mouth shortly after the fish takes the halt. Recognition of these deficiencies led to the development of devices for tending to a fishing pole while an angler uses his hands for something else.
Once a fish is caught, anglers who intend to eat their catch need to clean the fish shortly after the fish is killed or the meat will spoil. Cleaning the fish is a messy task that most anglers prefer doing with easy access to a water body for disposal of any waste. Thus, most anglers prefer to clean and fillet their catch where the catch is made. This often requires anglers to clean and fillet their catch using a cutting board placed on the ground or a narrow railing, or wait their turn at busy public access cleaning tables. Each of these alternatives is inconvenient. Thus, there is a need for a convenient method of cleaning fish where the catch is made.
Anglers often use a tackle box to carry their tackle, fishing tools, cutting boards and first aid kits. Typically, the tackle box is left, on the ground and the angler must bend, over each time he wishes to access something from the tackle box, if there is a flat railing, the angler has the option of balancing items, such as the tackle box, on the railing, lithe railing is not flat, the angler cannot even hope to balance the tackle box on the railing. Obviously, even if the railing is flat, balancing an item, on the rail creates a significant risk that the item will fall into the water. Similar considerations exist with respect to beverages which the angler wishes to consume while fishing. Thus, there is a need for a convenient means of securely attaching frequently used items in a more convenient and secure manner than currently used, especially whom a flat railing is not available.
Fishing pole holders are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,982 describes a unitary support for a fishing rod with spaced parallel plates that may straddle a bridge railing or the gunwale of a boat. The plates are rigidly connected by a trough, which may be used as a storage space. The unitary support is attached to a bridge railing or boat gunwale using an adjustable clamping screw. The fishing pole rests in a notch in one of the parallel plates and through a hole of the other parallel plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,738 describes a utility device designed to securely hold one or more fishing rods and a single beverage container. The utility device includes spaced parallel plates creating an inverted, U-shaped configuration for attachment to a dock rail or boat rail. The utility device is attached to a rail using a pin that passes through a hole in each leg of the U-shaped portion before a cotter pin is inserted in a hole in the tip of the pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,937 describes a fishing rod holder with a triangular support brace having a recess dimensioned to receive an elongated hollow tube for holding a fishing pole. The triangular support brace can be positioned atop a bridge rail and may be secured using a strap that wraps around both die triangular support brace and the rail. A dangling pouch may be temporarily smoked to the strap using a button snap.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0039377 describes a fishing post cap with a square shaped recess funned from two sets of opposing sides that are parallel to one another. The fishing post cap is a unitary device that permanently includes accessories such as cup holders, mini-tackle boxes, a fishing pole holder and gear hooks. The gear books may be used to bang items such as towels, a live welt, a fish basket, and a fish stringer.
While the prior art provides devices for tending a fishing pole that includes integrally attached fishing accessories, none of the poor art devices provide a fishing pole tender system, having a base with two sides including one side that has a non-parallel, resiliently deformable indented port cm that provides improved attachment by exerting force on a support structure. In addition, none of the prior art devices provide a fishing pole tender system that includes a multitude of interchangeable, cantilever mountable fishing accessories, such as cutting boards, tackle boxes, and bait buckets, that may be securely and conveniently mounted to one or more accessory mounting portions. Thus, there is a need for improved fishing rod holders.